I am delighted and honored to bring this post to you as my first in a series as an official brand blogger for Old Fashioned Milk Paint. My grin stretches sea to shining sea. This paint has my heart all bundled up in its paper bags of green, natural, powdery perfection. OFMP sponsored this project by providing me with the product to complete it.

I would like to share the process of creating a beautiful shabby chic dresser using OFMP's milk​ paint and a touch of adornments. But first, let me offer a bit of history which you may also review here, http://www.milkpaint.com/about_hist..., and description of this brand of milk paint. They are the original company to bring the modern day powder formula to market as genuine milk paint. It is a true milk paint, all natural, green and non-toxic. OFMP has a lovely palette of their standard colors to choose from, and then by mixing and playing with combinations, one can create a host of shades and tones. Speaking of shades and tones, because of the natural pigmentation in milk paint, it covers with beautiful shading and has a very authentic ambiance to its finish.

Also, being true milk paint, it must be mixed with water in equal parts of paint to water ratios. It has exquisite characteristics as it coats and dries. It can stick fully to porous surfaces, or chip and crackle on non-porous surfaces. In order to ensure adhesion to non-porous or shiny surfaces, they have a great product called extra bond which gets blended into the premixed paint for the first coat.

Milk paint is self-leveling so it sets smoothly on your surface. I am telling you, this paint is the way to go. It is mesmerizing to watch as it dries and graces your piece with a unique finish unlike any other paint.

​It does need to be topcoated as it is extremely matte. If you want your piece to gather household and everyday, how shall I say it... grime for patina...then you can opt to leave it to collect memories of life around it.

I chose to refinish a very old and excellent quality tall chest made by Union decades ago. Here begins this piece's journey from marred and abandoned in its homeliness to all dressed up and waiting for somewhere to go in its new country chic finish.

​Here it sits bare and beat:

And here comes my paint hero, OFMP in Sea Green and Buttermilk to rescue it from all that dull brown:

​As I stated above, the powder must be mixed with equal portions of water and then stirred very well to diminish any lumps and release the full pigment. It will end up smooth and maybe some little bubbles from stirring as you see here. I press the lumps against the side of my container to break them down and mix in well. I am using a yogurt cup which I make several small batches of paint as I go, and then I can rinse and recycle when I am done. Keeping all things green here.

Because my surface was a bit shiny after a light sanding and wash, I added the extra bond for improved adhesion of the paint to the wood. I was not looking for chipping at this point. This is a breeze to add. Just follow instructions on the bottle.

Paint time. Here is the dresser after my first coat of the Sea Green. I was doing two coats of this because I wanted it to show through the Buttermilk after the crackling process.

​Do not be daunted or deterred after your first coat which may look disastrous. There is a little milk paint miracle which occurs with the second coat. My heart dropped to my ankles when I first used milk paint. I had never seen it nor used it on anything and was devastated when I applied the first coat and saw streaks and bare spots and a shady texture. But then. Then the magic happened when I persevered to paint the second coat. Heed my words, do not give up. It will be beautiful.

Next I scrubbed and left my handles to sunbathe while they waited their turn to be coated in OFMP's paint and then the antique crackle medium.

The crackle medium is very thick and sticky. It is pretty easy to layer on the paint and you can see the sheen so you know where you may have missed coverage which is great for being thorough.

After a two hour drying period, I began to paint the top color of Buttermilk that would activate the crackling. This was really cool to observe. The paint begins to dance right before your eyes. Luscious crackles and breaks travel along a moment after each stroke of paint. Be sure to follow the directions on how to apply the paint over the medium. It can be a little tricky at first, but not difficult.

I salivate.

I let this set for a few hours and then I began adding some decorative detailing to the drawers. For the shallower top drawer, I applied a raised stencil which I would then brush over with the two paints alternating layers to get the tone I wanted. The first step is to measure your stencil to center it. I like to use the pull holes as a guide.

Once you have your stencil in place, tape it down with painter's or frog tape. I use spackle or joint compound to create my raised stencils. I use a credit card to smooth it over the entire stencil. Once fully covered and fairly leveled, let sit for just a minute and then​ slowly lift tape and pull back the stencil.

Pretty nifty, right? Now be patient and let this fully dry to hardness. Then you can paint it and topcoat it.

I was also using some tissue paper to decoupage the centers of the rest of the drawers. To achieve a tattered edge which is more complementary to a shabby chic appeal, I use a small paint brush and dab water along the edges pulling them away.

​After all the crafty fun, here is my scrumptiously shabby country chic dresser made perfect with Old Fashioned Milk Paint products.

Crackles, chips, shades and tones...perfection.

Though OFMP provided product for me to complete this project, all opinions are sincerely my very own.

I am thrilled to bring you this month's Fab Furniture Flippin' Contest piece which I refinished using milk paint from Old Fashioned Milk Paint, the sponsor for this theme. ​ It is no secret how much I adore this particular milk paint. OFMP is true milk paint in all of its powdery, natural pigmented, green goodness, "naturally safe historic paints since 1976." I have used this scrumptious paint for a couple of years and have written a few posts about my enduring love for this stuff.

The theme is Farmhouse Fun. They had me at Farm--. I have always wanted to live on one. The 'house' part is my heart, and the Fun is a given when using genuine milk paint. Once you try it, beware of the ensuing steamy love affair. Have lots of extra furniture around ready to be slathered as you throw yourself at it with a cup of milk paint in hand raring to go.

A farmhouse to me is old and loved with creaky wood planked floors, open windows, curtains fluttering in the breeze from the huge oak tree just outside, painted woodwork, painted furniture, painted barns, ironstone cookware, crisp linen, aprons, clothes lines and many other things reminiscent of a peaceful cozy existence. True milk paint, with its unique and historic elements, epitomizes all that a farmhouse evokes.

The piece I chose I had actually purchased from a woman who grew up in a small house out in a country town and was hers since childhood. She was now moving mid-life and sadly had to sell. So it is close to a bonafide farmhouse dresser. I think the classic style, excellent quality and clean lines with a dose of fancy on the skirt make it the perfect candidate regardless of its origin.

Now the really good stuff. I chose Federal Blue and Snow White for colors. My original plan was to combine the colors to lighten the blue. However, when I mixed it with the water, the blue was so striking I knew I wanted to leave it alone. It has subtle undertones of sapphire and midnight blues. It is a warm and stunning color, and using the snow white to trim the drawers and wash over the drawer faces gave it cozy contrast. I sanded the faces of the drawers and applied a stain called coastal then used the snow white paint to brush on a medium density wash over the stain and give a lovely weathered barn wood look to play up the farmhouse feel.

For the body in blue, I used extra bond to help it give me a solid finish since the piece was rather shiny. I did a brush over it with my sander, but I was still wary of it not receiving the paint. It worked like a charm as usual. I did four coats to get a fuller coverage over the stubborn brown, but this paint is so super easy to work with that it is like sipping tea to add a coat.

I literally sit and watch this paint dry, and it is the honest to goodness highlight of my work day. It comes alive with personality chipping, shading and crackling away.

​The drawer trim I wanted to chip. No extra bond for the white. But milk paint has a mind of its own, and I got a teensy weensy amount of chipping. Ya just nevah know. I credit the paint to be a better designer than I, because I actually think it turned out quite wonderfully doing its own thing. It is nice to see how true milk paint can also create a steady, solid finish though its notorious for its chipping and crackling effects.

Because it is a natural paint with natural pigment ingredients, it produces wonderful variations in tone and shading. This is part of its awesome character along with the crackling and chipping. The more I use true milk paint by OFMP, the more I become endeared to it. I also enjoy mixing the colors to create my own little concoctions of color. And I don't have to wear my face mask when using it because it is non toxic and all natural.

Once dried, I smoothed on Daddy Van's beeswax, also green seal approved, to topcoat and protect the entire dresser. Oh my gracious, I love the smell of this stuff. I cannot place it exactly, but there is something very nostalgic about it to me. This wax is velvety and just delicious to rub on and wipe down for a light buffing.

I replaced the top drawer section's pulls with diamond cut acrylic knobs for a little farmhouse fun pizazz and painted the bottom angel wing pulls in the beautiful blue. I love the Country French look for a farmhouse piece so I decoupaged two small drawer faces with a beautiful floral print material in traditional Country French colors of yellow and blue. Then to mimic the floral on the bottom drawers, I hand stenciled a floral motif in the blue as well.

I envision this dresser stashing the clothes of a pigtailed, coverall adorned girl in a second story bedroom of her generationally owned farmhouse somewhere near a meadow and a willow or two.

​Quick as a bunny hopping in a farm field, these....

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​Turn out this...

Here it is before it went from frumpy to farmhouse fun:

And here is the stage that you absolutely must persevere through to get the full glory of true milk paint by OFMP. Trust me, it is a miracle transformation from one coat to the next.​

This tired desk had great storage and a really nice design structure. All it needed was a swish of paint to be revived into a beautiful functional piece of furniture worthy of being in any room.

The FFFC this month was being sponsored by CeCe Caldwell Paints, and I was fortunate enough to have been selected to receive my choice of paint color to participate.

I went with a charcoal tone which is called Vermont Slate. I didn't want a full black or a full gray. This color hit square in the middle and is a perfect blend of the two creating a gorgeous color for itself. The authentic vintage wallpaper I had on hand shouted Americana. I had been pondering what to use it for and this was definitely the project. I was considering dumping the original hardware, but when I held it together with the wallpaper, the shape perfectly emulated the eagles and so it was serendipity. All three things were wonderful companions- paint, paper and pulls.​

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​Here is the before with a few drawers already taken out because I always forget to snap a photo before I dive in--

And here is the fun stuff happening--

I would like to thank the FFFC and the sponsor for providing this opportunity and paint and finish products for this project respectively. #CeCeCaldwellpaints #fabflippincontest

Alrighty. This dresser was headed for the trash at a used goods store. I kept my eye on the poor sad sack for about a month. The drawers wouldn't open properly because they were so heavy laden with a lumpy paint job (make that a plural as I soon come to find out).

It was a horrid sight really, and even I wasn't sure I wanted to tackle it. But yet I kept going back to peek at it all blistering brown and disregarded. I couldn't shake it.

​Finally, I caved. I warily forked over the eight bucks it was now marked down to prior to pitching it out the door and left dragging it in tow to home.

What now?

Well, it had such great structure, which was what drew me to it in the first place, so I decided a perfect kitchen island it would make. Except I have a thing about chucking drawers. I don't like to. Especially when there is absolutely nothing wrong with them as in this case. I began to apply a strong chemical stripper and slowly began the extremely tedious task of removing the crusty paint job that enshrouded this humble dresser.

​I did this outside in open air because it required many many slatherings of stripper and hours of scraping. That was what finalized my decision to ditch a drawer for a shelf space. To alleviate any further stripping trauma. I had to whittle through seven, uh huh, seven layers of thick paint to get to the bare wood.

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​I admit it was kind of fun to get a whole section up in one swipe to reveal the next level down. At any rate, this was a grueling task. Smelly, goopy, grungy inch by inch stripping. It took a couple of days to get it to a repaintable status.

In my mind, I wanted a thick top that extended out from the sides a bit and the back more for seating at stools. I ordered a couple of wrought iron corbels to use as decorative supports. I still had no top to add. I went to the lumber yard and bought a few ten feet long slabs of something and was very excited to use those to create the top. I wanted rustic barn wood, but these would do.

Then I got intimidated with how to actually make the top and attach it to the dresser/isalnd. It sat in my kitchen with a table cloth over it for nearly a year.

An antique desk I had picked up had endured some warping and was no longer suitable for refinishing so.....epiphany! If I couldn't refinish, I could certainly repurpose.

I would remove the top from that desk, shuck the veneer off, and use it for the top. Simple as that. Never. Measurements were ideal, and off it came and under the knife it went. The putty knife, that is. I chiseled away for several hours over two days. At one point my knife gouged beneath the veneer which was brutally adhered and a divot appeared. I saved the little chip to reattach later. But then it happened again. Great. My beautiful top was not stripping very smoothly and this meant excruciatingly slow and agonizing veneer removal. My knuckles were already quite scraped and slashed from rubbing on the rough wood splints as I worked my way around the slab.

Epiphany again. I liked the gouges. I honestly thought they were wonderful. Especially for a rustic barn wood look. I began to gouge out areas a bit here and bit there. Oh my heavens it was old wood perfection. I sanded the slab to smooth out the gouges and make them look chic. Like they had developed over years of weathered exposure. I was truly in love with the result.

I was so thrilled, I immediately stained it a medium chestnut color and slapped it on top of the dresser for a look-see. My heart dropped in my chest. It was perfect in every way except the stain did not do the look justice. I had to think about how to achieve the barn wood look I wanted and make it cohesive in my kitchen with dark granite and warm chestnut cherry cabinets. The colors were too similar and it just looked blah to me.

​I brought up four different stain tones and began to play with ideas in my head. Well, that only lasts a short stint for me because I am far too anxious to see the outcome. I grabbed a very deep brown and began swiping over the medium brown. Wow. What a difference. It was exactly what I wanted. The top now had depth and character and stood apart from the cabinets while complementing them and the counters. I added extra slops of it to certain areas and it looked just like old wood that has survived some serious circumstances.

Then I tried a semi-gloss poly but the glare off it from the sun made it so I couldn't look into the kitchen without slamming my eyes shut. So a satin finish took over.

Now I needed knobs. I tried about fifteen combinations of various knobs and did not care for any. While scrounging for others, I came across some tear drop pulls that I had removed from another piece a while back. I painted them satin nickel and paired them with black crystal knobs for the drawers and it was handle heaven.

I attached bead board to the back where the stools would be placed because come on, we all need to look good coming and going right? Lest I forget, I painted the body in one of my ultimate favorite neutral colors, accessible beige.

I still need to complete the shelf area with either wood or tile. I am still debating the final design decision. In the meantime, here it is, no longer decrepit, but a definite delight: